On January 10, just within 48 hours of the reinstation of Alok Verma to the post of CBI Chief, he was removed by a PM-led panel. Verma has now been posted as the Director-General Fire Services, Civil Defence and Home Guards, under the Union Ministry.

“False, unsubstantiated and frivolous allegations”

Alok Verma in response to his transfer has said that the action taken by the committee was based on “false, unsubstantiated and frivolous allegations” made by only one person inimical to him, as reported by The Times of India. Verma says that he stood up for the integrity of the institution and given a chance, would do it again.

The panel which took the decision consisted of PM Modi, Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge and SC judge Justice AK Sikri. The eviction was done on the basis of 2:1 majority, with Kharge being the lone dissenting member.

Reinstation by SC

On January 8, the exiled CBI Chief Alok Verma was reinstated to the post by the Supreme Court. Verma was sent on a “compulsory wait” on October 23 on the orders of the government of India. After this, Verma challenged the government’s orders, saying that a CBI Chief has a fixed tenure of two years, removal of whom would happen only under extraordinary circumstances with approval from a high-powered committee. Notably, Verma’s tenure was to end on January 31. The Supreme Court bench which gave this judgement on the reinstation comprised of three judges who took a unanimous decision of the quashing the centre’s order. The three judges said, “The legislative intent of insulating the CBI director is manifest.”

Notably, reinstating Verma to the post came with its own set of conditions. The SC had directed the government to form a committee, consisting of the Prime Minister, the Chief Justice and the leader of the Opposition to see if any action is required to be taken against Verma. Until then, CBI Chief was not permitted to take any major policy decision. The committee was asked to meet within a week.

Finance minister Arun Jaitley, post the SC ruling said that the decision to send Verma and his deputy Rakesh Asthana on compulsory wait was based on the recommendations of Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), as reported by NDTV. “The government felt that in the larger interest of fair and impartial investigation and credibility of CBI, the two officers must recuse themselves,” he added. He also added that with this decision, the court has strengthened the immunity given to the CBI director and it is in the interest of impartial working of CBI. “At the same time, the court has devised an accountability mechanism. The directions of the court will obviously be complied with,” he further said.

Decision to send the warring officials on leave

This decision of sending the two officials (Verma and Asthana) on leave came at the midnight with Joint Director of CBI, M Nageshwar Rao was then given the temporary in-charge. The decision came after the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) passed an order seeking their removal.

Both were stripped of all their responsibilities then. There were reports of Alok Verma’s offices being sealed and searched at, however, CBI later issued a clarification saying that no office has been sealed.

Reinstatement, Transfer & Resignation – How Last 48 Hrs Played Out For Ex-CBI Chief Alok Verma

Partner Story

Life Doesn’t Come With A Manual But It Comes With A Mother

It is often said that “Life doesn’t come with a manual, but it comes with a mother,” and we couldn’t agree more. Motherhood is a beautiful journey to embark upon, but not an easy one to tread as there are challenges and hurdles to deal with, along the way. For centuries there has been an unspoken social norm of mothers having to be responsible for all their child does – everything from nurturing to making sure that the baby grows up to be socially responsible and successful.

With its latest campaign, All Out® takes a powerful stand for mothers who are strong enough to acknowledge that they don’t know everything and are helping other Indian moms become more aware and vigilant against the threat of dengue. With the premise that one mother’s acceptance has the power to fire up other moms to be more vigilant, the campaign says that it takes a special kind of strength to admit #IDidntKnow / #MujheSabNahiPata.

In the campaign film, we see Kirti, who like many moms is strong and conditioned to believe that “Mothers know everything”. Alas, social conditioning notwithstanding, she did not expect a mosquito could change all her beliefs. Unaware of the fact that mosquito which causes dengue can breed even in clean water, Kirti is seen breaking down while accepting #MujheSabNahiPata / #IDidntKnow when her son’s life is endangered by the deadly disease. The film also sees, celebrity mother Sonali Bendre encouraging mothers to push aside the pressures of having to know it all and share their experiences to help prepare other mothers.

In a country that believes a mother should know it all, it takes a tough mom to say #MujheSabNahiPata.All Out aims to empower mothers to come together to share anecdotes from their lives about things they did not know. Because one mother’s defeat can prepare a thousand to be more vigilant. Share your stories with us. #IDidntKnow #MujheSabNahiPata

Through the campaign, the brand is urging mothers across the country to share their #IDidntKnow / #MujheSabNahiPata stories and help other vigilant parents become more aware of the wellbeing and protection of their children.

Please share your story using #IDidntKnow / #MujheSabNahiPata, if you think that your story can encourage and better prepare other mothers to take care of their children.